


And the Crown (it Weighs Heavy)

by BasicallyAnIdiot



Series: Transit Drabbles [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, HoennChampionShipping, HoennChampionship - Freeform, Imperial AU, Royalty AU, SameAge!AU, drama-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 13:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20815787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasicallyAnIdiot/pseuds/BasicallyAnIdiot
Summary: They had survived the war together. Grew a home, and begun a family.The last thing Steven expected was a missive from the Imperial Palace demanding his return for a role he never wanted.





	And the Crown (it Weighs Heavy)

**Author's Note:**

> A stand-alone, leave it alone (for real, honest) fic inspired by all the shows I have been finding inspired by palace life in Imperial China. <s>Looking at you 'Empresses in the Palace'.</s>
> 
> Had a couple different versions around the idea that I may or may not post later. We'll see. I mean, I should be working on the Fun!Vampire AU...

**And the Crown (it Weighs Heavy)**

His wife was beautiful. 

Standing in the afternoon sun, wild grasses of the hill brushing against the waist of the plain green cotton skirt she wore, the bright cerulean sky clear of any clouds, hands on her hips as she considered the Mago tree in front of her. The lower branches had already been picked clean by the village children, but May had never been one to take the easy path. If she wanted berries and she would get them. 

Her back was to him, short brown hair ruffled in the breeze- she was growing it out, with her service complete there was no reason to keep the military cut- the billow of her skirt in the strands of wheat gold. The sight was enough to stop him in his tracks as he came over the hill.

Lily must have been nearby, probably in the woven reed basket he could barely make out at the base of the tree. His wife would never let any harm come to their infant daughter- though she never managed to apply the same care to herself.

Something constricted in his chest- strangling his heart in an iron vice. The letter in his hand, Wallace’s familiar scrawl bore the news Steven had hoped he’d never hear. That he hadn’t even known to be possible. 

May nodded once, and kicked off her shoes. With a deftness unmatched by anyone in their legion, she scurried up the tree in seconds. Clambering over branches and gathering the berries in her apron with a fearlessness of a child. Almost a mirror of when they met, her apron full, she jumped down as Steven’s heart leapt up into his throat. 

Gods he hated when she did that. One of these days she was going to misjudge, trip and break something - but May hadn’t yet. Hadn’t during the battles when she was climbing tree to report on troop movements. Hadn’t when she was a captain of her own squad- an elite squad that went behind enemy lines and came back anyway much to the disappointment of the powers that put Steven in the squad to begin with. 

It was a miracle he never failed, but he supposed that was May’s doing as well.

She was smiling when she straightened, hem of her apron in one hand making an impromptu basket of the cloth. “Steven. You’re back from the village early.” 

It was funny, but in all the time he had known her, he had never realized her face was heart shaped. Sapphire eyes, the really valuable kind of deep blue his mother had worn, glittered with good humour and an intelligence that had led them to victory. Skin flushed from the exertion of her climb. 

He wanted to kiss her, memorize the feel of her body pressed against his. To keep her close and drink in the sight and burn this day into his memory. Tuck her head under his chin, feel the tickle of her hair against his skin, and squeeze her tight. 

The smile faded from May’s face, an expression he remembered accompanying more than one bad plan from command appeared. Thin line of her lips and the slight furrow of her brow. She swallowed, “Steven?”

He didn’t want to tell her. He wanted only to rip Wallace’s letter into pieces, grab his family and flee to some far off place where they could never be found. 

The palace would chase though. They would never have a moment’s peace or the safety of anonymity again. 

His voice didn’t feel like it came from him. He wasn’t even sure where the question came from, “If you had to choose between duty to country and personal happiness, which would you choose?” 

May licked her lips, lips he must have touched a thousand times or more, “I don’t understand.” 

He didn’t either. “The choice of duty or happiness. To do your duty would require sacrificing any chance of happiness, but choosing happiness meant failing in your duty- which would you chose?” 

May shook her head, and held her free hand out. “Come with me.” Her hand was warm and calloused as he set his own in the grasp, and she gently pulled him down to the base of the berry tree close to her side. Taking a moment to transfer her load of berries to a smaller bag beside the basket. Nestled between the roots, Lily rested in her woven bassinet. Her chubby baby face smooth with sleep and a thin cotton blanket kept her from a chill.

May brushed the tuft of hair from Lily’s face, it was too early to know what hair colour the baby had. He had been hoping for his own silvery white, and the strands were light enough it could be, it now seemed a foolish wish. 

“Why couldn’t I have both?” 

He tried to picture it- May in Evergrande City, wearing finery that weighed more than gold, choked by rules and laws made over centuries. His wife, who cut her hair with a knife and climbed trees, forbidden from doing either. Who’d be forced to manage a harem of women with pedigrees stretching back to the founding of the Hoenn empire- and their schemes and plots for power. Who- when the dust had settled- turned down a commission for the freedom of running a farm.

Lily would never know the joy that was playing in the dirt May always talked about. Would never be able to learn martial arts as her mother had. The expectations on her would be great- and deeply unfair. 

“Humour me.” Steven replied finally, eyes on his daughter as she dozed on. 

His wife was quiet for a long moment. A bird flew past. “Duty. For I could learn to be happy, but I could never reclaim my own honour once tarnished.” 

He wasn’t surprised. May was stronger than him in so many ways. 

“Now,” She plowed on, “why are you asking?” 

He should just hand her the letter- but she deserved better. So much better than he could give her now. “The Emperor is dead.”

May inhaled sharply through her nose. “And? You were banished. He sent you to die in the war. The man was dead to you a long time ago.” 

What could he say to that sharp tone? How he could explain the intricacies he knew were at play? That this was just the beginning of the end of everything he held dear? 

The truth then- with Wallace’s words, “With his dying breath, the emperor reinstated me on the family tree.” Steven scoffed lightly, “My half-brothers were found to be worse than expected in my absence.” 

His wife, the one who had pulled him from all the dark corners and accepted him titleless as he had been, was silent. Who bore him the most beautiful baby girl and built him a home. Something he had never had before. This was his family- and they were about to slip from his grasp. 

The sky remained clear as the wind began to pick up. Whistling grasses the melody of a summer day. 

He was scared to look at May, and feared an expression of indifference. 

She inhaled again, sharp as a rose’s thorn. “Why couldn’t we go with you?”

It was a risk, but he glanced up from Lily to the frown of his wife. “The moment they realized you were a daughter of a country lord, they’d do everything in their power to kill you so a high lady could take your place.”

How many times did he see it happen with his father? Even Steven’s own birth mother didn’t survive the mechanisms of the court. His memories of her was vague blurs- more sounds and the smell of fresh peonies. It was luck that had the empress raising him as her own. Or misfortune. 

May’s breathing was controlled, her expression still and contained. Gods above- he couldn’t stand it if anything happened to her.

Or Lily- his only child who smiled brighter than the sun, would be known as the only heir, and turn into a bargaining piece. If she survived. More than one of Steven’s half-siblings failed to make it to adulthood, caught in the crossfire between clans and their push for power.

And he would change. He had to, if he was to live long enough to come back to May. The person he had to change into, the emperor of Hoenn, would have to be cold, calculating. Analyzing every move, every word to find the traitors who’d want him off the throne. 

May would never knowingly betray him- he knew that. But whether or not she could be manipulated was another matter. Her brilliance on the battlefield may or may not translate to the court- though visions of her answering challenges to duels brought up a laugh that caught in his throat. 

His eyes felt hot. 

A finger, thick with muscle and scarred, wiped the tears away. Steven leaned into the warm hand, kissing the palm gently. Solid. May was solid- the foundation upon which he had built a life. She gently lifted his head up to meet her gaze, a soft smile on her face as she tilted her head, “Don’t I get a say in this?”

His laugh left him in a breathless air, “You’d just spin circles around me with logic and reason until I abandon all good sense and agree.”

“Because your logic is usually flawed. Like right now.” She clicked her tongue, “Yes, you have a duty to your country but I have a duty to you, and you have a duty to me, and we both have a duty to Lily.” 

“A duty to protect. Something I couldn’t do if I brought you both to the palace. You don’t know how vicious a place it is-“ A hand ran through his hair, ruffling it gently. His thoughts stilled.

“It’s funny that you think you could leave me behind when we both know I’d follow anyway.” Her smile turned into a grin, “It’s almost as funny as the fact you of all people think I can’t handle myself in a vipers’ den.” Her snort was unladylike. “But I suppose it can’t be helped- you weren’t in the command meetings.” 

He hadn’t been. Just a lowly soldier among the bastards and their captain- the only woman with that rank. Brendan, the half-son of a lord and his maid, Wally, sickly and denied his position of first-born because of it, and him, an imperial prince out of favour and out of luck who only knew war from poetry. It was a miracle May managed to keep them all alive to see the end of the war. The gods must have smiled on her from the start.

Or… perhaps it was something earned. Every trap they dodged by the skin of their teeth- it had always seemed like they happened to be in the right place at the wrong time, gathering valuable information and returning. But- May always seemed to have a reason for deviating from what command wanted, usually based on what Wally ‘felt’. Must have always had the exact right words command, enraged by their insubordination, wanted to hear afterwards. 

He tried to find a place to argue, though hope swelled in his heart. Brendan had become a doctor in the years after the war- employing him to the imperial standard wouldn’t be hard especially where his father was governor of the East. His loyalty couldn’t be questioned. Wally always saw more than he said, and understood more than what was said- useful, for the world of the palace. 

And May- May would never let anything happen to Lily; she’d kill anyone who tried. Who’s own father now commanded an army as a general, and her family enjoyed good fortune in spite of their marriage. Thank the gods Steven had the foresight to drop his old name when he joined the army- it made it easier for everyone to ignore him. 

Allies would make sitting on the crystal throne bearable- but would put them all in danger. 

What if he lost his temper, as he so often had in the beginning of his time on the squad when he was little more than anger and rage against his circumstance? What if he punished them? Would they still be his allies when their lives and the lives of their families hung the balance of his temperament? May would have succeeded in the military- but the palace? Where the role of women had been so careful defined over centuries?

“I don’t want to leave here.” He whispered. “I like what we have and we want for nothing.” 

Their home was small, but cozy. With painted walls and paper windows and a clay tile roof. They hadn’t been able to afford the nice paper- the translucent kind that let in light but not the cold Steven had seen in the palace growing up- when they were building it and now that they could, they hadn’t bothered. It was a future project. They were suppose to have years there. 

“I know.” His wife’s smile turn wistful. “But our life is taking a different turn.”

“Because of me.” The bitterness in his voice surprised him. He had thought he had finally managed to let go of what had happened. What the emperor had done to him- the humiliation of the banishment- learned to accept where he was and come to love his new life. It was simple, easy. He was nameless and had no desire for a cold throne. 

They should have forgotten about him.

“Yes. But I agreed to a lifetime with you. And you agreed to a lifetime with me. No matter what happened.”

She turned to him, the dappled shade of the tree flickering over her face. Beautiful and as real as the moment she stabbed the man about kill him in battle, sapphire eyes fierce as blood sprayed. The moment when he thought he could love her. 

Her head was held high as she observed him. “I, for one, expect you to keep your promise to me.” 

The enormity of the task was suffocating. He tried to remember the rules- it had been so long since he had to know it. “I don’t know if they would let you be empress.” 

“I don’t need to be empress,” May scoffed, “I need a room close enough to your’s and a squadron of guards to train on how to protect you properly.”

“Ladies don’t use weapons.”

“I’m your wife and I’ve kept you alive longer than anyone else.” 

“The palace won’t like it.”

“They don’t have to.” She sighed, hand gently stroking Lily’s forehead smoothing out a line, “Steven. We can make this work, but only if you want it to work.”

That was the crux of it all, wasn’t it? With the hand he had been dealt, what did he want? He wanted May and Lily safe. Far out of harm’s way. Preferably with no one, ally or enemy, knowing they existed or the special place they had in his heart. 

They’d suffocate with him in the palace. For all of her intent, May had no idea what awaited her if she came with him. Steven wasn’t sure he could stand watching her fade away. “I want you to be safe.”

May licked her lips, “You want us to stay behind.”

“Yes.” The word burned as it left and, for a moment, Steven wished he could take it back as his wife swallowed hard and pulled her hand away from him. “I want you to stay here. Live your life, raise Lily in the way you were raised, without interference. Away from the court and its politics.”

May’s breathing was controlled- he could keep time with the steadiness of the rhythm. She carefully picked up Lily’s basket and set it on her lap, shoulders square as she idly adjusted the blanket. “You’d abandon us.” 

Gods- what could he say to that? “May. Please.” 

His wife shook her head, short strands bouncing, eyes closed in thought. “No. If this is the path you want to go down, call it what it is. You’d be my dead husband- and you can never come here again. I will have to sell the house and move home to my parents, because I cannot raise a child and a farm without help. And you will never see Lily grow.”

“You will be provided for-”

May’s growl was as unexpected as she whirled to look at him, “Use your head. There would be too many questions asked about how a widow could afford to live alone with her child.”

A chasm might have opened up between them. One that Steven created but couldn’t cross. May was being practical- she was right, there would be questions and messengers could be followed. Any contact would give the truth away. 

May growled again. “Damnit, Steven. This life, as wonderful and pleasant as it was, is over. Just let us come with you.” 

She stood up swiftly, arranging Lily on her back, and grabbed her bag of Mago berries. “I’m going home. Think about what you are asking before you return.” 

He watched her go.

**Author's Note:**

> Like what you read? Let me know with a comment- I am a chatty author and will respond. Or come say 'hi' on[ Tumblr!](https://basicallyanidiot.tumblr.com/)


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